Method for preserving foundations



Oct. 29, 1940. R. |TZ ET AL 2,219,710

MTHOD vFOR PRESERVING FOUNDATIONS v Filed March l, 1959 Patented Oct. 2 9, 1940 UNITED STATES 2 Claims.

Our invention relates to an improved means and method lfor preventing and remedy-ing the uneven settling of building foundations, and a principal object thereof ,is tol provide a method of this nature which eliminates the paraphernalia and labor required to the jacking up of sinking structures, the remedy commonly employed at the present time.

A further object of our invention is to provide a means and .method for preventing and remedying the settling of building foundations which is characterized by extreme simplicity and may be carried out very economically.

With the above more important objects in View and such other minor objects as may appear as the specification proceeds, our invention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of parts all as hereinafter more particularly described, reference being had tothe -accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan View of a foundation upon which our method has been applied.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the same.

In the drawing like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.

It is well-knownthat due to the lowering of the water table throughout large areas of the North American continent, considerable damage is taking place to real estate through the subsidence of the land upon which the same is resting and at present, it is common practice to remedy such subsidence by such methods as underpinning and the like. Such underpinning is sometimes resorted to before subsidence takes place but in the great majority of cases the piles used in connection with underpinning are not formed to sufficient depth and even if they are formed to suflicient depth for the immediate present, further lowering of the water table would probably render them ineflicient.

In many cases of unevenly sinking foundations, it has been observed that the sinking has been greatest upon' the side of the building most exposed to the sun, or that the portion of a foundation adjacent a dripping eavestrough has been upheld, and that in general, wherever the surrounding earth has been maintained in a moist condition, the foundation has been supported, and conversely, wherever the surrounding earth has for one reason or another, become very dry, it has been permittedto sink.

Therefore our invention is designed to enable the earth surrounding a foundation I to be easily PATENT "OFFICE METHOD FoaPREsEnvING FoUNlJ'A'rIoNs Robert Litz :and John A. Roe, Winnipeg,

Manitoba, Canada the earth surrounding kthe foundation, and spac- 7,5

five feet aroundr the foundation and ata distance of approximately two feet from the outer edge of the footings 3. 'Y Also, within the area of the foundation, a plurality of 'similar passages 4 are bored through* the basement floor` 5 into the earth therebenea'th and are spaced symmetrically apart a distanceof approximately five or six feet.

'Ihe passages 2 and 4 llextend to a depth of approximately five feet below the level of the floor 5 and are lled with crushed stone 6. Finally, a length of pipe 'I approximately twelve inches by one inch in diameter, is inserted centrally in the upper end of each of the passages 4 and a small quantity of cement 8 is packed around the upper end thereof to form a smooth surface contiguous with that of the basement floor 5, and similarly, a weeping drain 9,having a flange I0 of the diameter of the passages 2 is inserted into the upper end of each of the passages 2 such that the flange I0 lies ush with the surface of the ground.

It may here be pointed out that in specifying the various dimensions mentioned in the above paragraphs, we have done so only for the purpose of presenting a clear and definite illustration of the manner in which our method is carried out, and while these dimensions have been found very satisfactory in most cases, it will of course be understood that these may be varied at will to suit various conditions.

The final operation now lies in pouring water into the pipes l and weeping drains 9 from Where it will pass readily through the porous crushed rack 6 and be absorbed by the surrounding earth. After the first application, in which a relatively large consumption of water may be expected, more water should be added periodically to make up the losses due to evaporation, drainage and the like, andin this regard, it will be found that the outside passages 2 may require more water than the passages 4, due to the exposure of the surrounding earth to the heat of the sun and the consequent higher rate of evaporation. It may also be noted that although we have found it satisfactory to pour water periodically into each of .ing the passages at intervals of approximately s foundations to their proper condition, but has been developed primarily for installation before subsidence occurs to insure the continued maintenance of an immovable, even, true and firm foundation beneath buildings by conditioning the ground therebelow so that it is able to sustain the necessary weight.

Finally, we would point out that it is not essential that the external drillings be positioned approximately two feet from the footings or house as hereinbefore described because satisfactory results may under certain soil conditions, be obtained if the drillings are made even as much as twenty feet away. 'Ihe moisture supplied to drillings spaced this distance from the structure Would serve not only to moisten the ground beneath the structure but would also serve to moisten the surrounding ground to the benefit of trees, lawns or the like, and indeed, the means and method herewithin described may advantageously be employed for the conditioning of lawns, trees and the like from below the surface of the ground, which has the outstanding advantage over ordinary watering methods in that the Water supply is fed directly to the roots and cannot be drawn off by evaporation until it has performed this function.

Since various modifications can be made in the above invention, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same, made Within the scope of the claims Without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specication shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense and we desire only such limitations placed thereon as are specifically expressed in the accompanying claims,

What We claim as' our invention is:

1. The method of preventing or remedying the subsidence of a building foundation which consists in boring a plurality of passages at intervals around said foundation, lling said passages with a mass of particulated material to preserve the same against collapse and injecting Water into said passages to penetrate the Walls of said passages and the surrounding earth.

` 2. The method of preventing or remedying the subsidence of a building which consists in boring a plurality of passages into the earth at intervals around the foundation thereof from ground level, boring a plurality of passages through the basement floor of said building and into the earth therebeneath, the first and last mentioned passages terminating at an approximately similar depth, filling said passages with particulated material to preserve the same against collapse, and injecting Water into said passages to penetrate the walls thereof and the sur-rounding earth. l

his ROBERT X LITZ.

mark JOHN A. ROE. Witness to mark:

THELMA NASS. 

